Interactive communications appliance

ABSTRACT

An interactive communications appliance for broadcasting personalized information is disclosed. The interactive communications appliance comprises a transceiver for receiving personalized information transmitted via a wireless link. A memory stores the personalized information and an audio device broadcasts the personalized information to a user.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 60/168,214 filed Nov. 30, 1999, and U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 60/181,967 filed Feb. 10, 2000. Both of theseprovisional patent applications are herein incorporated by reference intheir entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Traditionally, people have obtained information from traditionalinformation media such as newspapers, TV and radio. A number of problemsare associated with such traditional information media. For example, theinformation in newspapers may not be current. Because of the timerequired to print and deliver a newspaper, the news and otherinformation in the newspaper may be more than five to ten hours old bythe time it is received. Moreover, traditional informational media suchas TV, radio, and newspapers deliver information that may not be ofinterest to the user. In conventional TV and radio broadcasts, forexample, the user must listen to stories that are not of interest whilewaiting for stories of interest to be presented. In a newspaper, theuser must sift through news and stories that may be of interest beforegetting to the news and stories of interest. Consequently, a user canwaste time trying to obtain desired information.

People have been able to access current news and information through theInternet. Information obtained through the Internet is generally morecurrent than information in, e.g., newspapers. On-line news services,for example, put news items on server computers. Using anInternet-accessible computer, users can access this information as soonas it is put on the server computers. In comparison to a printednewspaper, for example, news delivered through the Internet requires noprinting or physical delivery that impedes the delivery of informationto the user.

In response to the need to filter through unwanted information,Internet-based informational services such as Pointcast (now Entrypoint)were created to help users receive only the information that they want.Using a service such as Pointcast, users may have only information thatthey are interested in delivered to them. The user need not activelyseek desired information. For example, if a user is interested inreceiving information about stocks, the user can specify this with theservice. Current stock information is automatically delivered to theuser's computer.

While the Internet-based information services have addressed many of theproblems of traditional informational media, many improvements could bemade. For example, much of the information obtained through the Internetis graphical. Viewing graphical information such as pictures and textcan occupy both the eyes and hands of a user. It is difficult to consumesuch information when, for example, the user's eyes and hands areoccupied. For example, it is difficult to view a Web page with news onit while shaving. Furthermore, a typical household has only one or twoInternet-accessible computers and only one or two Internet access linesfor typically four or more potential users (e.g., a family of four).Some potential users may not be able to use the computer when they wantto. For example, one family member may be using the only computer in thehouse, thus preventing other family members from using it. As users'lives become busier, it would be desirable for users to obtain moreinformation of interest to them.

It is especially difficult for a person to consume graphical informationin the morning. In the morning, people generally do not have much timeto consume graphical information as they are busy preparing to go towork or school. Children, in particular, are unlikely to view graphicalinformation on Web sites before school, because their parents do notwant them to use a home computer before they go to school. The childrenmight be tempted to play games or interact with the computer in amanner, which will delay the children's departure from the home.

Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention relate to interactive communicationsappliances, systems, and methods for broadcasting personalizedinformation to a user. The personalized information may be obtainedusing a user profile. The personalized information may then be sent toan interactive communications appliance where it may be broadcast to theuser.

One embodiment of the invention relates to an interactive communicationsappliance for broadcasting personalized information. The interactivecommunications appliance comprises: a processor; a transceiver forreceiving personalized information transmitted via a wireless link, thetransceiver being operatively coupled to the processor; a memory for thestoring personalized information, the memory being operatively coupledto the processor; and an audio device for broadcasting the personalizedinformation.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a system for broadcastingpersonalized information to a person. The system comprises: aninteractive communications appliance having a first transceiver; asecond transceiver communicating with the first transceiver via awireless link; a client computer operatively coupled to the secondtransceiver; and a server computer. The interactive communicationsappliance broadcasts personalized information received from the servercomputer.

Yet another embodiment of the invention is directed to a method forbroadcasting personalized information. The method comprises: receiving auser profile for a user; obtaining personalized information based on theprofile of the user; transmitting the personalized information to aclient computer via a communication medium; transmitting thepersonalized information to an interactive communications appliance viaa wireless link between first and second transceivers; and broadcastingthe personalized information to the user.

These and other embodiments are described in greater detail below withreference to the Figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 2A shows a block diagram showing some components of an interactivecommunications appliance according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B shows a block diagram showing some components of a transceiverunit according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of an interactive communicationsappliance embodiment interacting with a transceiver coupled to a clientcomputer.

FIG. 4 shows a method of using an interactive communications applianceaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary Web page according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 shows a representation of a string of data for a concatenatedaudio sequence.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the invention are directed to an interactivecommunications appliance. The interactive communications appliancereceives personalized information from a server computer. Once theinteractive communications appliance receives the personalizedinformation, the personalized information is broadcast to the user.

The user may be of any suitable age. Preferably, the user is 18 yearsold or less. More preferably, the user is between about 8 to about 16years of age. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the informationbroadcast to the user is entertaining or educational for persons of theuser's age group and is otherwise suitable for the user's age group.

In an illustrative embodiment of the invention, a client computer, suchas a stand-alone personal computer or a laptop computer, contacts aserver computer via a communication medium such as the Internet. Using auser profile, the server computer can retrieve and/or arrangepersonalized information for a user and then send it to the clientcomputer via a communication medium such as the Internet. In embodimentsof the invention, arranged information is provided to the user as apersonalized audio presentation. For example, in some embodiments of theinvention, the retrieved information is not presented to the user as aconventional radio broadcast would present it (e.g. “The Red Sox beatthe White Sox yesterday in a 20 inning game”). Rather the retrievedinformation is arranged as a personalized presentation to the user (e.g.“Hank, can you believe it? Your favorite baseball team beat out theWhite Sox yesterday in an incredibly long game!”). Once the clientcomputer receives the personalized information, a transceiver coupled tothe client computer transmits the personalized information to anothertransceiver coupled to an interactive communications appliance through awireless link between the transceivers. The wireless link is preferablya radio frequency (RF) link. The interactive communications appliancehas a first transceiver for receiving information from the clientcomputer which is coupled to a second transceiver. The personalizedinformation received by the first transceiver is then stored in a memoryin the interactive communications appliance.

In some embodiments, after the personalized information is stored, thewireless link between the first and second RF transceivers isterminated. In these embodiments, the interactive communicationsappliance and the client computer do not communicate with each other andthe interactive communications appliance can operate independently ofthe client computer. In other embodiments, the client computer maytransmit and the interactive communications appliance may receive andbroadcast the personalized information to the user in real time (e.g.,as in a streaming audio process).

At a predetermined time, the personalized information is retrieved frommemory in the interactive communications appliance and is broadcast theuser. For example, the personalized information may be stored in memoryin the interactive communications appliance while the user is sleeping.An alarm in the interactive communications appliance sounds at apredetermined time to wake the user up. After the alarm sounds, thepersonalized information stored in memory may be broadcast to the userthrough an audio device Such as a speaker. For example, after the useris awakened by the alarm, the user can depress a button on theinteractive communications appliance to turn the alarm off. Turning offthe alarm can initiate the broadcast of the personalized information.Alternatively, the broadcast may start after a time delay during whichthe user neglects to turn the alarm off.

After the interactive communications appliance broadcasts thepersonalized information, he can listen to the broadcast personalizedinformation. The personalized information may include, for example,information relating to the weather or traffic in the user's geographiclocation. The broadcast information contains mostly information that iseither relevant to the user's interests and/or is entertaining to theuser. The broadcast information preferably does not contain significantamounts of information that are not of interest to the user.

Embodiments of the invention have a number of advantages. For instance,in embodiments of the invention, the user need not spend time filteringthrough information that the user is not likely to be interested in. Forexample, if the user is interested in financial news, but is notinterested in sports, then the broadcast personalized audio informationmay include information such as current interest rates and stocks, butnot the previous day's baseball or football scores. The user may listento relevant information, without having to filter through vast amountsof information. Moreover, because the personalized information is inaudio form, the user can listen to the audio information while stillperforming tasks that require the use of his eyes or hands. For example,the user can shave in the morning and still listen to the personalizedaudio information. The personalized information can thus be obtainedmore efficiently by a user than, for example, graphical information.When receiving audio information, a user may use his eyes and hands toperform other tasks. Furthermore, since the interactive communicationsappliance may operate independently of the client computer in preferredembodiments, the user need not compete with others in, for example, thesame household for access to a computer and to the Internet. Each personcan listen to individually personalized information though there mayonly be one household computer with direct Internet access. In someembodiments, a single household computer may transmit personalizedinformation to many different interactive communications appliances in ahome.

Any suitable personalized information may be delivered to theinteractive communications appliance. For example, the personalizedinformation may relate to local, national, or international news,weather, sports information, educational information, and TV programminginformation. The personalized information may also include science news(e.g., space, animals, and natural science), entertainment news (e.g.,movies, music, books, celebrities), horoscopes, jokes, fun facts, andgames. The personalized information also includes music that has beenselected for a particular user. For example, the user may have specifiedin a user profile a liking for country music. Country music songs can beselected and included in that user's content package. Informationalitems such as these may be obtained from one or more informationservices. For example, current news may be obtained through one or morenews services such as the Associated Press (AP).

The personalized information may also include schedule items. Theschedule items may be broadcast with or without content such aspersonalized news and weather. Schedule items may include remindermessages for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, meetings, and the like.The reminders and other schedule items may be stored in an electronicscheduler on the interactive communications appliance or a servercomputer (e.g., a Web server, and/or the client computer. Computer codefor keeping the electronic scheduler for the user and for keeping thescheduler synchronized between the client computer and the interactivecommunications appliance may be present in the client computer or theinteractive communications appliance. The scheduler stores the scheduleitems either by designating only a day and optionally designating both aday and a time in an electronic calendar. On the day when an event isscheduled for the user, the interactive communications appliancebroadcasts a message to the user as a reminder of the event on that day.For example, a parent may store a reminder in the scheduler that onJanuary 30, the parent is to attend a conference with his son's teacher.On the morning of January 30, the interactive communications appliancecan broadcast the reminder message to the parent when he wakes up. Thereminder message might be, for example, “Remember, you have a meetingwith Hank's teacher at 3 p.m. today”. Upon hearing the reminder message,the user is reminded that he is scheduled to attend the parent-teacherconference.

A system according to an embodiment of the invention can be describedwith reference to FIG. 1. The system 30 includes a host site 20 and usersites 10(a), 10(b). Users at the user sites 10(a), 10(b) communicatewith the host site 20 through a communication medium 32 such as theInternet. The user sites 10(a), 10(b) may be, for example, a home,school, or workplace. The host site 20 may be the location of a hostcompany that runs a server computer 22.

The server computer 22 is typically a powerful computer or cluster ofcomputers. For example, the server computer 22 can be a large mainframe,a minicomputer cluster, or a group of servers functioning as a unit. Inone example, the server computer may be a database server coupled to aWeb server. The server computer 22 can behave as a single computer thatservices the requests of one or more client computers 18(a), 18(b). Forexample, one or more client computers 18(a), 18(b) at different usersites 10(a), 10(b) can communicate with the server computer 22 throughthe communication medium 32 and optionally through one or more InternetService Providers (ISPs) (not shown). The client computers 18(a), 18(b)typically have less memory and less computing power than the servercomputer 22. Typically, the server computer 22 is remotely located withrespect to the client computers 18(a), 18(b).

The server computer 22 can have computer code for performing anysuitable function. For example, the server computer 22 can have code forupdating a user profile in a user profile database, retrieving data fromany suitable database, and sending data to any person. Computer code mayalso be provided for selecting content for a content package, assemblingthe content package, and sending the content package to the user.

The server computer 22 and the client computers 18(a), 18(b) communicatethrough a communication medium such as the Internet, and moreparticularly the World Wide Web (WWW). Typical communication protocolswhich can be used by the server computer 22, the client computers 18(a),18(b), or the interactive communications appliances 16(a), 16(b) mayinclude HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), TCP/IP (terminalcommunication protocol/Internet protocol), or other protocol.

The server computer 22 may have data representing a Web site 19. The Website 19 may any suitable number of Web pages and is preferablyentertaining to users under 18 years of age. On the Web site 19, theuser can create a user profile, set operational preferences, play games,select content for a content package, and view personal messages. Otherpersons may also contact the Web site 19 to upload messages or selectcontent for the user. For example, a teacher, a parent, or otherindividual may upload messages to the Web site 19 or select content onthe Web site 19. The uploaded or selected content can be included in acontent package to be sent to the user.

GUIs (graphic user interfaces) on the Web pages of the Web site 19 or onsoftware run on the client computer can be used to create a user profileor control the operation of the interactive communications appliance 16.The GUIs may have any number of data fields where users may enterinformation to form a user profile. Data fields may receive theinformation regarding the user's age, sex, income, marital status, likesand dislikes, color preferences, favorite sizes and shapes, preferredlearning modes, employer, job title, mailing address, phone number,personal and business areas of interest, favorite music groups, favoritetypes of music, favorite sports, etc. The GUIs may also be used tocontrol the operation of the system. For example, GUIs may provide theuser with the ability to change the appearance (e.g., the color) of thetime display on the interactive communications appliance. In anotherexample, a user may enter data into a GUI to change the time displayedon the time display. This might be done, for example, to update the timein the event of a power outage.

The computer code for creating the GUIs can reside on the servercomputer 22 and/or on the client computers 18(a), 18(b). If the code ison the client computers 18(a), 18(b), the user profile can be created onthe client computers 18(a), 18(b). After the user profile is created,the user profile can be uploaded to the server computer 22 and theserver computer can store the created user profile in a user profiledatabase 24.

Once the user profile is created it may be updated in any suitablemanner. For example, the user profile can be updated manually by theuser. The user may use the GUIs on the system to change or update anyinformation in his user profile. Alternatively or additionally, datarelating to the user's actions may be used to modify a user profile. Forexample, if a user's profile does not initially mention that the user isinterested in sports, and the user repeatedly requests that currentsports scores be included in his content package, the user's profile canbe automatically updated to indicate that the user is interested insports scores. The casual interaction of the user may also be noted bythe system to update the user's personal profile. If the user repeatedskips over a certain type of presentation (e.g. weather reports), orrepeatedly chooses to participate in another type of presentation (e.g.opinion polls), the interactive communications appliance will “learn”not to present the former, and to increase presentation opportunitiesrelating to the latter.

The server computer 22 may have access to any suitable number ofdatabases of information. For example, the server computer 22 may haveaccess to a user profile database 24, a content package database 26, anda content database 27. The content database 27 in turn may access anarchived database (of e.g. audio files) or a stack of retained stories.As shown in FIG. 1, the personal profile database 24, the contentpackage database 26, and the content database 27 are shown as distinctentities. However, the databases may be combined together in anysuitable manner and/or additional databases may be used. For example,the content database 27 could alternatively be one static contentdatabase with static information such as jokes and horoscopes andanother dynamic content database with dynamic content such as news andsports scores. Static information is information that typically does notchange over time. Dynamic information, on the other hand, is informationthat typically does change over time. Examples of dynamic informationmay include news, weather, and sports.

The personal profile database 24 may include the user's personalpreferences and information about the user. The user profile informationmay include basic information about the user. Such basic informationincludes the user's age, hobbies, address, phone number, e-mail address,school, relatives, teachers, parents, phone number, etc. The userprofile information may also include information regarding the user'spreferences. User preferences may include preferences such as favoritesubjects, relatives, teachers, favorite songs, favorite sports, favoritefoods, favorite cartoons. User preferences may also include operationalpreferences such as the days and times that the user wants informationdelivered to him. The personal profile database 24 may also includeschedule items such as notes, messages, and reminders related to, forexample, anniversaries, birthdays, appointments, etc.

The content database 26 may include any suitable content. The contentmay include static information such as problems (e.g., questions,puzzles, riddles, quizzes), as well as songs, games, hints, music,facts, greetings, and messages (e.g., help, encouragement, reminders, orerror messages). The information may include articles, news accounts,stories, etc. Categories of information include national news,international news, state news, local news, financial news, businessnews, cooking, home improvement, sports, entertainment, music, movies,television, health, nutrition, etc.

The content in the content database 26 may also be in any suitable form.For example, the content may be in the form of compressed oruncompressed data. The content may be in the form of sound files such asMP3 files, WAV files, and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)files. The content may also be in the form of graphic files such asvideo files, image files (e.g., bitmaps), and text files. If the contentis in the form of graphical data such as text data, the text data can beconverted to audio data by using code for converting text data to speechdata. The code for converting text data to speech data may be on theclient computer or the interactive communications appliance. Inaddition, the content may be in the form of applications that may be runon the client computer or the interactive communications appliance.

In some embodiments, the server computer 22 may periodically establishcommunication with information providers (not shown) through thecommunication medium 32. The information providers may operate their ownWeb sites and databases of news, music, etc. The server computer 22 maycollect a variety of information items from the information providersand store them in the content database 27. As a result, the servercomputer 22 can then have direct access to a collection of the mostcurrent information available from different sources. Alternatively, theserver computer 22 could gather information from the informationproviders by accessing the communication medium 32. The gatheredinformation could then be sent directly to the content package database26 where a content package including the gathered information is storedand optionally updated until it is ready to be downloaded to the user.

The content package database 27 may store content packages that arecreated for the users. For example, the server computer 22 may retrievea user's profile from the user profile database 24 and may retrieveinformation from the content database 26 based on the user profile. Theretrieved information is personalized for that user and may be stored asa content package in the content package database 26. The contentpackage can be stored in the content package database 24 until it isdownloaded to the user.

Other information may also be stored in the user's content package. Forexample, a person may upload audio messages intended for a user to theserver computer 22. The uploaded text or audio message may be includedwith a content package for the user and the content package may bestored in the content package database 26. For example, a person canupload a text message or an audio file to the Web site 19 on the servercomputer 22. The server computer 22 can store the uploaded text messageor audio file in the content package database 26 so that it is placed inthe user's content package. Uploaded text messages can be converted toaudio data before or after it is included in the content package. Whenthe content package is eventually downloaded to the user, the text oraudio message from the person may be included in the downloaded contentpackage. If the message is in the form of text data, then it can beconverted to audio data at the client computer or the interactivecommunications appliance. Once converted, it can be broadcast with otherinformation in the content package. Alternatively, a message could beselected from tables of pre-recorded audio.

Each user site 10(a), 10(b) may include an interactive communicationsappliance 16(a), 16(b), a client computer 18(a), 18(b), and a secondtransceiver 14(a), 14(b). Each interactive communications appliance16(a), 16(b) includes a first transceiver 12(a), 12(b) that communicateswith the second transceiver 14(a), 14(b) via a wireless link 11(a),11(b). Each second transceiver 14(a), 14(b) is present in a transceiverunit 13(a), 13(b), and each transceiver unit 13(a), 13(b) is coupled toa client computer 18(a), 18(b). The client computers 18(a), 18(b)communicate with the server computer 22 via the communication medium 32.

The client computers 18(a), 18(b) are typically microcomputers and mayinclude a modem or other connection device for accessing thecommunication medium 32. A typical client computer may include a centralprocessing unit (CPU) (e.g., a microprocessor), a keyboard, a modem, adisplay monitor, a CD-ROM (compact disk-read only memory), a floppy diskdrive, and a hard disk drive. It may optionally include a mouse, atouchpad, and a stylus for additional data entry.

Any suitable computer code may be present on the client computers 18(a),18(b) to facilitate the operation of the system. For example, code foraccessing the server computer 22 at predetermined times and/or dates setby the user or other person, or for accessing the server computer 22 toprovide a stream of control data and audio data on a real-time basis maybe on the client computers 18(a), 18(b). For example, an on-linechat-line where users could log in, and talk to other users could beprovided in the system. Code for converting text data to audio data mayalso be on the client computer. The code for performing functions suchas these may be supplied to the client computer through the floppy diskdrive, the CD-ROM drive, and/or other storage devices that receiveremovable information storage media. Alternatively, code can bedownloaded through a modem (not shown) or other communications device.

Each client computer may include a code for creating a schedule for theuser and code for creating a message center where text or audio messagescan be received, sent and created. Both the scheduler and the messagecenter may be in an HTML (hypertext markup language) format or otherInternet or browser compatible format. The user's schedule can be kepton the client computer, server computer, or the interactivecommunications appliance. Schedule items need not, but could be sent tothe server computer for storage in a database. In some embodiments, aschedule can be created and stored on the client computer. The schedulecan be updated by the user as events need to be scheduled. At the clientcomputer, schedule items can be included in a content package receivedfrom the server computer. The modified content package can then be sentfrom the client computer to the interactive communications appliancewhere the information in the content package can be broadcast to theuser.

The client computer and/or the interactive communications appliance maystore any suitable number of pre-recorded, reusable audio portions orgraphic files. For example, the interactive communications appliance mayhave pre-recorded, reusable audio portions that have phrases which canbe combined with certain information to personalize an audio message tothe user. For example, a pre-recorded, reusable audio portion may be thephrase “Waaake up, (insert child's name), rise and shine!”. In anotherexample, the pre-recorded audio portion may be, “Hi Hank! Did you knowthat the (insert team 1) beat the (insert team 2) by a score of (insertscore of team 1) to (insert score of team 2)?”. By having pre-recorded,reusable audio portions, less data needs to be transferred to theinteractive communications appliance resulting in faster data transfer.The pre-recorded, reuseable audio portions may also include varioussound effects to make the interactive communications appliance moreentertaining to the user. Examples of sound effects include crowd noise,thunder and a drum beat. In embodiments of the invention, the reusablecontent may be used to create audio messages for broadcast on specificdays or at specific times. Updated, pre-recorded, reusable audioportions or other audio data may be provided periodically (e.g.,monthly) by the server computer 22.

The first transceiver 12(a) and the second transceiver 14(b) communicatewith each other through a wireless link 11(a), 11(b). When the first andthe second transceivers 12(a), 14(a), 12(b), 14(b) are in communicationwith each other, the interactive communications appliances 16(a), 16(b)and the client computers 18(a), 18(b) at their respective user locations10(a), 10(b) are also in communication with each other. The wirelesslink 11(a), 11(b) can allow for two-way communication between theinteractive communications appliance 16(a), 16(b) and the clientcomputer 18(a), 18(b). The wireless link 11(a), 11(b) may be, forexample, an infrared link, an optical link, or a RF link: The datatransmission between the transceivers 12(a), 12(b), 14(a), 14(b) may beeither asynchronous or synchronous.

RF wireless links are preferred as they permit the interactivecommunications appliances 16(a), 16(b) to be used if their respectiveclient computers 18(a), 18(b) are not within its line-of-sight. Forexample, by using an RF link, a client computer 18(a), 18(b) may be in ahome office while one or more interactive communications appliances16(a), 16(b) are in different rooms in the home. For example, thedifferent interactive communications appliances 16(a), 16(b) may bepresent in different bedrooms of a home.

A commercially available wireless communication technology called“Bluetooth™” can be used in embodiments of the invention. Bluetooth™ isa high speed, low power microwave wireless link technology, designed toconnect phones, laptops, PDAs (personal digital assistants) and otherportable equipment together with little or no work by the user. Unlikeinfrared link technology, Bluetooth™ does not require line-of-sightpositioning of connected units. When one Bluetooth™ product comes withinrange of another (e.g., between about 10 centimeters and 100 meters),they automatically exchange address and capability details. They can,for example, establish a 1 megabit (or greater) link betweentransceivers. Bluetooth™ protocols handle both voice and data. Anothercommercial wireless technology that could be used is Firefly™.

In embodiments of the invention, many interactive communicationsappliances (e.g., 2 or more) may be present at a user site while usingfewer client computers (e.g., a single client computer). Data todifferent interactive communications appliances may be, for example,downloaded during the night while the different users are asleep.Preferably, the data is downloaded and transmitted to each interactivecommunications appliance just before an alarm is preset to sound in theinteractive communications appliance. Then, the interactivecommunications appliances may broadcast up-to-date information to eachof the different users. In the morning, each respective interactivecommunications appliance in the home can already have respectivelydifferent content packages stored in it for each respective user. Wheneach user wakes up, the personalized information in his personalizedcontent package in his respective interactive communications appliancewill be broadcast to him. This can be done without interference fromother users and without waiting for data to download. In addition, otherappliances having compatible electronics may interface to the clientcomputer via the first transceiver.

A block diagram of an interactive communications appliance 16 accordingto an embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 2A. The interactivecommunications appliance 16 may include a transceiver 12, an antenna(not shown), a memory 64, input devices 66, an audio device 68, and atime display 70 coupled to a processor 60. Batteries or an AC(alternating current) source may power the interactive communicationsappliance 16.

The processor 60 may include one or more microprocessors that facilitatethe operation of the interactive communications appliance 16. In thisregard, the processor 60 may include any suitable number of speechsynthesizer chips, central processing units, ASICs (application specificintegrated circuits), etc.

The memory 64 may be any suitable temporary or permanent informationstorage device. For example, the memory 64 may include one or more ofoptical, magnetic, or electronic storage media such as optical ormagnetic disks, tapes, sticks, and the like. Storage devices such asthese may be used alone or in combination to make up the memory 64 ofthe interactive communications appliance 16. Any suitable number of RAM(random access memory), ROM (read only memory) and EPROM (erasableprogrammable memory) chips may also be included in the memory 64 of theinteractive communications appliance 16.

The audio device 68 may include a speaker, or an audio jack orconnection for a headphone or an earphone. An audio amplifier (notshown) may amplify any signals to the audio device 68. Preferably, theaudio device 68 is a speaker. The speaker may be any suitable size. Forexample, the speaker may be 3 inches in height or width (or more or lessthan this value).

The input devices 66 may include buttons, speech recognition devices,microphones, and the like. Preferably, the interactive communicationsappliance 16 includes a snooze button, an on/off button, and data inputbuttons such as an alphanumeric keyboard or yes/no buttons. Other inputdevices may include a volume control knob or button, time settingbuttons, skip forward buttons, skip backward buttons, alarm time settingbuttons, and a help button. In some embodiments, the user may interactwith the interactive communications appliance 16 using the input devices66. For example, the interactive communications appliance 16 maybroadcast a question to the user and the user can answer the questionusing the input devices 66. In one example, the interactivecommunications appliance 16 may ask the question, “Hi Hank! Do you wantto hear yesterday's baseball scores?”. The user can answer this questionby, for example, pressing a yes or no button on the interactivecommunications appliance 16. In addition, the server could follow upwith a polling question, like, “Hey, Sally, do you like the latest songfrom N'Sync™ that we just played for you?” The user can again answerthis question by using an input device on the interactive communicationsappliance 16. The user's response may, at some later time, be uploadedto the client computer or the server. The client computer or the servercomputer logs the response, and may modify the user profile based on theresponse.

The time display 70 can display the current time. The time display 70may be, for example, an LED (light emitting diode) time display, a LCD(liquid crystal display) time display, or an analog time display. Thetime display 70 may have any suitable dimensions. In a typical example,the time display may be larger than 2 inches by 1 inch in size (e.g.2.5×1.5 inches or more). In some embodiments, the time display 70displays the time for a majority of the day and can do so when theclient computer is off. It can also provide video animations atpredetermined times. Video animations and text may appear on, forexample, a LCD driven by data that is transferred to the interactivecommunications appliance 16 along with the audio data. For example, onthe user's birthday, a birthday cake with flickering candles runningfrom for 1 to 5 seconds with the user's name written on it may bedisplayed. After the animation is complete, the current time can bedisplayed. The video animations may alternatively be provided on adisplay screen that is separate and distinct from the time display.

The interactive communications appliance 16 preferably includes an alarm(not shown). The alarm may produce any suitable sound to alert the useror wake up the user.

For example, the alarm may be a buzzer, ringer, or may be a synthesizedvoice (e.g., “Good morning Hank! Rise and shine!”). The alarm may be setto go off by setting a timer device (not shown) in the interactivecommunications appliance 16. The timer device may be preset by the userto sound the alarm at a predetermined time or day set by the user.

The interactive communications appliance 16 may include other devices.For example, the interactive communications appliance 16 may include anLED or other indicator (not shown) that can indicate to the user that anew content package is stored in memory and can be consumed by the user.A conventional AM/FM radio may also be included in the interactivecommunications appliance 16 if desired. The interactive communicationsappliance 16 may also include a device for preselecting one or moreradio channels on the interactive communications appliance. For example,the user may program the interactive communications appliance 16 to playone, two, or more radio stations at predetermined times.

The transceiver 12 may be adapted to transmit or receive IR (infrared),RF (radio frequency), or optical signals from another transceiver.Preferably, the transceiver 12 can transmit or receive RF signals moreor less than a 100 foot radius (e.g., a 40 foot radius). Also, thetransceiver 12 may operate at different frequency channels so thatdifferent channels may be selected to avoid potential interference withother wireless devices in a household such as wireless telephones.

A block diagram of a transceiver unit 13 according to an embodiment ofthe invention is shown in FIG. 2B. The transceiver unit 13 may include atransceiver 14 and an associated antenna. The transceiver in thetransceiver unit 13 may have the same or different characteristics asthe transceiver 12 in the interactive communications appliance 16described above. The transceiver 14 may also have a memory 164, inputdevices 166 (e.g., USB or serial input devices), and an optional displaydevice 168 (e.g., an LED) coupled to a processor 160. Batteries,alternating current, or power from, for example, a USB source may powerthe transceiver unit 13 coupled to the client computer.

A perspective view of an interactive communications appliance 16embodiment and a client computer 18 is shown in FIG. 3. The interactivecommunications appliance 16 has a first transceiver (not shown) embeddedwithin its housing. The housing may be a plastic molded housing. Thefirst transceiver communicates with a second transceiver 12 through awireless link 11. The second transceiver 12 is coupled to a clientcomputer 18 via a cable 19. The cable 19 may be connected to an externalcommunication port. It may be a serial cable connected to a serial port,or may be a USB cable connected to a port such as a USB (universalserial bus) port of the client computer 18.

As shown in FIG. 3, the interactive communications appliance 16 may alsoinclude a figurine 17. The figurine 17 makes the interactivecommunications appliance 16 more attractive in appearance. The figurine17 may be made of hard plastic or may be plush. It may also be in theform of any suitable animal (e.g., a frog, a mouse, a lion, etc.) orcartoon character. The figurine 17 makes the interactive communicationsappliance 16 makes it more attractive to children than it wouldotherwise be without the figurine 17. Other features such as brightcolors and oversized components (e.g., an oversized speaker) can beincluded in the interactive communications appliance to make it moreappealing to children. The figurine could further be constructed to beanimatronic, to appear to speak to the listener.

A method according to an embodiment of the invention can be describedwith reference to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. In embodiments of the invention, auser can use a client computer 18(a) to access a Web site 19 on a servercomputer 22. At the Web site 19, the user may create a user profileentering data into data fields in appropriate Web pages on the Web site19. Alternatively, the user profile can be created using a program runon client computer 18(a) and the user profile can be uploaded to theserver computer 22. Once created, the user's profile is stored in apersonal profile database 24. The personal profile may also be usefullystored in the interactive communications appliance. The user's profilemay include information such as the time that the user wants to receiveinformation and the types of information that the user is interested in.In a typical example, the user may specify that the personalizedinformation be delivered to the user's interactive communicationsappliance at 5:00 A.M. every morning. The user may also select topics ofinterest. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the user can select science,sports, weather, or fun facts information on a Web page 110 of the Website 19 by selecting a hyperlink corresponding to these topics.

With reference to FIG. 5, at a predetermined time, client computer 18(a)can automatically establish contact with the server computer 22 (step92). The server computer 22 can access the user's personal profile andmay retrieve and arrange information according to the personal profilefrom a content database 26. In some embodiments, in addition toselecting information according to the user's profile, the servercomputer 22 can also filter through any gathered information and selectonly those informational items that are appropriate for the user's ageor age range. The server computer 22 then transmits this personalizedinformation back to the client computer 18(a) via the communicationmedium 32 (step 94). The client computer 18(a) may then transmit thereceived personalized information to the interactive communicationsappliance 16(a) (step 96). The personalized information is transmittedfrom the second transceiver 14(a) to a first transceiver 12(a) in theinteractive communications appliance 16(a). A wireless link 11(a) iscreated between the first transceiver 12(a) and the second transceiver14(a) to establish communication between the client computer 18(a) andthe interactive communications appliance 16(a). The communicationsappliance 16(a) then stores the personalized information in memory. Oncestored, the wireless link 11(a) between the first and secondtransceivers 12(a), 14(a) may be broken so that the first and secondtransceivers 12(a), 14(a) are no longer in communication with eachother. At this time, the interactive communications appliance 16(a) mayact as a stand-alone device once the content package is received inmemory.

An alarm in the interactive communications appliance 16(a) sounds at atime set by the user to wake the user up (step 100). After the userturns the alarm off, the user is awake and the personalized informationstored in memory is broadcast to the user (step 102). The broadcastinformation may include a broadcast sequence including audio segmentsconcerning current, local weather information, yesterday's newsheadlines, yesterday's sports headlines, reminders for the day, andjokes. For example, an exemplary broadcast sequence with different audiosegments may be as follows: Introduction Concatenated Audio WeatherConcatenated Audio This Day In History Recorded Audio News RecordedAudio Sports Concatenated Audio Message Text-to-Speech Audio Fun FactsRecorded Audio Reminders Text-to-Speech Audio Horoscope Recorded AudioJokes Recorded Audio Music Recorded Audio Conclusion Recorded Audio

“Concatenated Audio” refers to an audio segment that includes somepre-recorded sound portions. These pre-recorded sequences can be playedalone or can be combined with current information to create a newphrase. For example, the pre-recorded sound portions “Get up John!” cansimply be a pre-recorded audio sound portions, while the pre-recordedsound portions “The temperature is (insert current temperature)” can becombined with the current temperature to provide a complete audiomessage about the current temperature. FIG. 6 shows a representation ofa string of data bytes for a sequence of concatenated audio segments170(a), 170(b), 170(c) preceded by an alarm byte 180 which causes theinteractive communications appliance to sound an alarm. Each segmentincludes data representing a beginning audio portion 171(a), 172(a),173(a), an intermediate audio portion 171(b), 172(b), 173(b) and anending audio portion 171(c), 172(c), 173(c). The audio corresponding toeach intermediate sound portion 171(b), 172(b), 173(b) and thereforeeach audio segment 170(a), 170(b), 170(c) may relate to respectivelydifferent topics. For example, the segments 170(a), 170(b), 170(c) mayrelate to weather, sports, reminders, and politics. The user may skip anindividual segment, for example, by pushing an appropriate button on theuser's interactive communications appliance if the user is notinterested in the particular segment. In some embodiments, theinteractive communications appliance, or the system in general, maylearn from interactions such as these and the user's profile can beadjusted accordingly. For example, if the user repeatedly skips sportssegments, then the user's profile can be updated to exclude or reducethe number of sports segments delivered to the user. The beginning audioportions 171(a), 172(a), 173(a) and the ending audio portions 171(c),172(c), 173(c) may include, for example, personalized greetings, topicintroductory statements, or sound effects to indicate the beginning orend of a particular audio segment.

“Recorded Audio” refers to audio that is recorded without pre-recordedaudio, reusable sound portions. This type of audio can be used for audiosegments that do not typically have reusable text. For example, currentnews items such as an actual quote from a famous person may be played infull by the interactive communications appliance, without pre-recorded,reusable audio segments. “Text-to-Speech Audio” refers to text itemswhich are converted from text data to speech data at the servercomputer, client computer or at the interactive communicationsappliance. The text data may be from a reminder that the user previouslytyped into an electronic scheduler on the client computer by the user.The server computer, the client computer or the interactivecommunications appliance can convert the text data into audio data sothat the interactive communications appliance can broadcast theinformation to the user.

In embodiments of the invention, the broadcast sequence may include amixture of informational items, reminders, music, and entertainingsounds specifically selected for the user. Consequently, the user canhear a unique audio sequence of information each day. As the broadcastcontent includes personalized information, it includes information thatis relevant to the user and the user need not waste time listening toinformation which is not of interest to him. Moreover, as many funsounds (e.g., special sound effects) are also provided in embodiment ofthe invention, listening to the broadcast personalized information canthus be both informative and entertaining.

Each audio segment in a broadcast sequence can be accessed by userinteraction with the device. The user can skip an audio segment, repeatit, or go back to a previous segment. The users' interaction with thebroadcast can be uploaded to the client computer and then to the servercomputer where it may be incorporated in the user's profile. The updatedprofile may be used to select future sequences or segments for the user.

While the foregoing is directed to certain preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may bedevised without departing from the basic scope of the invention. Suchalternative embodiments are intended to be included within the scope ofthe present invention. Moreover, the features of one or more embodimentsof the invention may be combined with one or more features of otherembodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of theinvention.

1. An interactive communications appliance for broadcasting personalizedinformation, the interactive communications appliance comprising: (a) aprocessor; (b) a transceiver for receiving personalized informationtransmitted via a wireless link, the transceiver being operativelycoupled to the processor; (c) a memory for the storing personalizedinformation, the memory being operatively coupled to the processor; and(d) an audio device for broadcasting the personalized information,wherein the personalized information is received from a server computervia a communication medium.
 2. The interactive communications applianceof claim 1 further comprising an alarm.
 3. The interactivecommunications appliance of claim 1 wherein the audio device is aspeaker.
 4. The interactive communications appliance of claim 1 furthercomprising an input device, wherein the input device comprises a button.5. The interactive communications appliance of claim 1 wherein thepersonalized information comprises at least one of sports information,educational information, weather information, and TV programminginformation.
 6. The interactive communications appliance of claim 1wherein the memory comprises code for creating a personalized schedulefor the user.
 7. The interactive communications appliance of claim 1further comprising a time display.
 8. The interactive communicationsappliance of claim 1 wherein the communication medium comprises theInternet.
 9. The interactive communications appliance of claim 1 whereinthe transceiver is adapted to transmit information to a secondtransceiver operatively coupled to a computer.
 10. The interactivecommunications appliance of claim 1 wherein the memory comprisespre-recorded, reusable audio portions.
 11. (canceled)
 12. (canceled) 13.A system for broadcasting personalized information to a user, the systemcomprising: the interactive communications appliance of claim 1, whereinthe transceiver is a first transceiver; a second transceivercommunicating with the first transceiver via a wireless link; a clientcomputer operatively coupled to the second transceiver; and the servercomputer in communication with the client computer.
 14. (canceled) 15.The system of claim 13 further comprising a user profile database.16-34. (canceled)
 35. A method for broadcasting personalizedinformation, the method comprising: (a) providing a user profile for auser to a server computer; (b) receiving personalized information basedon the user profile at a client computer from the server computer via acommunication medium; (c) transmitting the personalized information fromthe client computer to an interactive communications appliance via awireless link for storage, wherein the personalized information isthereafter broadcasted to the user.
 36. The method of claim 35, whereinobtaining personalized information is based on information that isappropriate for the user's age.
 37. The method of claim 35 wherein thecommunication medium comprises the Internet.
 38. The method of claim 35wherein an alarm sounds prior to broadcasting the personalizedinformation.
 39. The method of claim 35 wherein the method furthercomprises preselecting one or more radio channels on the interactivecommunications appliance for broadcasting at predetermined times. 40.The method claim 35 wherein the personalized information comprises oneor more of sports information, educational information, weatherinformation, TV programming information, and music.
 41. The method ofclaim 35 further comprising creating the user profile.
 42. The method ofclaim 35 wherein the wireless link is a radio frequency link.